Cement traders expect an increase in cement imports over the next four years amid an expected spike in demand and limited capacity of local manufacturers to satisfy the required domestic output.
Cement Importers Group president Napoleon Go said the country would continue to import bigger shipments of cement as the country approached the golden age of infrastructure.
“Importation this year should not be less than last year. The infrastructure program of the government will require massive inventory of major construction staples like cement and steel. While there are ongoing expansion of existing plants, new plants are also underway. It will take them three to four years to have them in operation,” Go said.
The government, however, is imposing stricter import measures on reports of substandard imported cement flooding provincial markets.
Go said cement importers were not worried as most of them were buying cement from quality plants in China and Vietnam.
